Columbus Descendant Visits Jamaica To Mark Discovery

Latin America & Caribbean - In Brief

July 21, 2004

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- A Spanish duke who traces his ancestry to Christopher Columbus began a weeklong official visit to Jamaica on Tuesday to commemorate the explorer's arrival on the Caribbean island 500 years ago. Cristobal Colon de Carvajal, the 20th direct descendent of Columbus, paid a courtesy call to Foreign Minister K.D. Knight before a scheduled meeting with Sir Howard Cooke, Jamaica's governor general, the Spanish Embassy said. During his visit, Colon, a 55-year-old professional sailor from Madrid, plans to take a boat tour of Port Royal, a historic port city that was a hotbed of piracy in colonial days. Colon holds the title of Duke of Veragua.